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Roulette in Casablanca |
One of the most famous (albeit fictional) roulette games in history took place in Rick's Café Americain in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1942. For one lucky young couple, the roulette wheel provided the ticket to freedom. We are referring, of course, to the great roulette scene in the classic movie "Casablanca."
The BackgroundFor many refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe, Casablanca was a way station on the way to Lisbon, Portugal, and thence to America. To get from Casablanca to Lisbon, however, one needed an exit visa, which was not easy to obtain. One way to obtain an exit visa was to purchase one on the black market. Another way — a method available to attractive young women only — was to engage in sexual intercourse with the corrupt and lascivious chief of police, Captain Renault.One of the popular nightspots in Casablanca was Rick's Café Americain. Rick, portrayed by the inimitable Humphrey Bogart, liked to present himself as a man who was tough, cynical, and emotionless, a man who "stuck his neck out for nobody." The back room of Rick's Café Americain was a gambling room, featuring a roulette wheel. The Desperate RefugeesIn the Café, Rick is approached by Annina, an attractive young woman who seeks his advice. Annina explains the she and her husband, Jan, have been married only eight weeks, that they have come from Bulgaria, a place where "a devil has the people by the throat," and that they are desperate to get to America, but they do not have enough money for exit visas. She mentions that Jan is trying to win the money at the roulette table, but he is losing.Alluding to — without explicitly stating — the lascivious offer by Captain Renault to provide an exit visa in return for sexual favors, she turns to Rick: "Oh, Monsieur, you are a man. If someone loved you very much, so that your happiness was the only thing that she wanted in the whole world, but she did a bad thing to make certain of it, could you forgive her?" Rick's laconic reply: "Nobody ever loved me that much." He cynically advises her to "return to Bulgaria" and. with an apparent heart of stone, he terminates the conversation: "Everybody in Casablanca has problems. Yours may work out. You'll excuse me." The Roulette Game
After the croupier pushes a pile of chips onto 22, Rick tells Jan: "Leave it there." The croupier spins the wheel and — wonder of wonders! — 22 wins again. The croupier shoves another huge pile of chips onto 22. Rick growls at Jan: "Cash it in and don't come back." "A Lucky Guy"It is obvious to everyone in the room that Rick had rigged the roulette game so that Jan and Annina could obtain the money for their exit visas. Rick, however, still feigning the heart of stone, will have none of it. When Annina tries to thank him, he brushes her off and says, "He's just a lucky guy."Of course, Rick meant that Jan was lucky to win at roulette. But perhaps he meant that Jan was a lucky guy to have a partner who loved him as much as Annina did. Ambiguity is part of the beauty of "Casablanca." "A Gesture to Love"The only loser in the whole episode (besides Rick himself, who, after all, had given away a large sum of his own money) was Captain Renault, who had been cheated out of his erotic encounter with Annina. He accuses Rick of being "a rank sentimentalist" and demands: "Why do you interfere with my little romances?"Rick responds: "Put it down as a gesture to love." And so we see how the great game of roulette has enabled one young couple to escape from tyranny and begin a new life of love and freedom.
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